PISA defines reading literacy as understanding, using, reflecting on and engaging with written texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, develop one’s knowledge and potential, and participate in society.

con la seguente particolarità:

Digital texts are conceived of as a subset of written texts. For the purposes of PISA 2009, digital text is synonymous with hypertext

powerful evidence that today’s 15-year-olds, the “digital natives”, do not automatically know how to operate effectively in the digital environment, as has sometimes been claimed

e se qualcuno avesse ancora qualche dubbio:

Access to ICT has grown significantly in recent years and, as a result, fewer than 1% of students across OECD countries reported that they had never used a computer; but a digital divide in the use of ICT is still evident between and within countries

Using a computer at home is related to digital reading performance in all 17 participating countries and economies, but that is not always true for computer use at school

Sì, avete capito bene!

the relationship between students’ computer use at school and performance in digital reading tends to be negative with a slight curve, which means that more intensive use is associated with lower scores

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This does not necessarily mean that computer use at school has no positive impact on school performance in general or on performance in digital reading in particular, since many other school policies and practices interact with the observed relationship. However, it does suggest that deeper analysis is required that looks beyond the frequency towards the quality of ICT use at school. Such analysis will need to consider a wider range of factors that can influence the effectiveness of ICT use at school. For example, schools could offer more project-based activities using ICT – particularly those that do not impose constraints on how to accomplish tasks but,
rather, allow students to explore various approaches to problem-solving using ICT, much as they do when they use
ICT at home. This could help students to improve their navigation skills. At the same time, teachers could develop
reading methodologies that improve students’ ability to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant material, and to
structure, prioritise, distil and summarise text.

Nevertheless, if the use of ICT is not an integral part of a school’s vision for teaching and learning and instructional
systems, teachers are unlikely to be motivated to invest in the use of ICT. The OECD’s 2009 Teaching and Learning
International Survey (TALIS) shows that ICT skills are ranked second in teachers’ evaluations of their own development needs. That suggests that if teachers have adequate opportunities to develop their skills in using ICT in general, and their understanding of the nature of digital reading and digital texts in particular, they will be more likely to develop the skills and confidence to integrate them effectively into instructional practices on a regular, daily basis.